Crimson Streak
by ThunderCross
Summary: A mercenary is known to do many things. Commit crimes. Steal important data or precious cargo. Even kill in cold blood. This life suited him because of his powers. However, the idea of his very being is still a mystery that clouds his mind. But the past never mattered. He deals with the present and prepares for the unpredictable future.
1. Life painted with these colors

'_If you want top quality protection or any kind of shit done properly, ask for the '_Crimson Streak'. _'_

A frazzled youth just walked into a bar deep in the slums of Westopolis. He looked like a mess. Facial hair barely shaved on his white skin. Leather coat wrapped tightly around a narrow build with an over worn white shirt and faded gray pants and shoes.

This man honestly didn't belong in the scene of the bar. The lights were low so the patrons were barely noticeable but then again, they didn't say a word. Most of them too drunk to care. Yet the man was just too jumpy. His head swerved in every direction as if something was going to snatch and drag him into the darkness for eternity.

But this man was here for a reason.

'_Word of warning, sir. If the offering ain't worth squat to him, the service will be denied. And if he wants to snuff you out, he _will._'_

He was taking a chance, yes. But damn it, he still had a life to live. He still had women to sleep with, goals to accomplish.

Walking up to the gruff bartender, the youth slid into a stool carefully. After making sure he was comfy enough, he faced the elder. "How well do you know the people around here?"

All he got was a raised eyebrow in response. So he clarified. "Alright, I'll be straight with you. I got a tip that the 'Crimson Streak' either hangs around here or keeps in contact with you. Can you reach him for me?"

The old man just stared at the youth. He's seen a lot of 'clients' ask for that particular name in the past. And it varies each time. Hell, even women seek his service though he wonders what they request…

To the point, this man, no kid, didn't look like he had the ground to last a minute with Crimson. But hey, he wasn't his manager. He was only a bartender.

So with that, the man jerked his head to a red door and the youth instantly got the message. As the old door creaked open and shut, the bartender wondered what the judgment will be.

* * *

The hallway was dark and foreboding. The footing under the youth felt like it would give away even though the payment was as normal as any other ground to walk on.

The mood in the basement really didn't make the youth feel good. But he would bare it. As he finished that thought, he came to another old door. This one looked like it taken a lot of punishment however.

Regardless, the youth knocked on the door and hoped for something. A minute passed and the youth knocked again. No response. Another minute, another knock. The youth didn't turn back because he needed the job done by tomorrow. No way in hell cops would listen to him. The youth was about to get desperate and bang his fist on the door when a smooth voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Come in."

The youth grasp the old knob and turned it slowly. As the creak of the door reverberated through the low lit hallway, the man's tension grew.

Then he looked at the being who gained the moniker 'Crimson Streak'.

"You-you're short!"

Indeed. The being in front of the youth wasn't the tallest of beings. Or maybe that was because its back was turned while in a meditative position?

Either way, from what the youth could tell, the being in front of him had 5 spines sticking out from the back of its head and a dark body.

"Are you 'Crimson Streak'?"

The figure didn't move when he was addressed. This pissed off the youth. He was already shaken up due to his situation. The mood from when he came into the bar to this point didn't help either. And to come this far just to address some…creature?

"Hey! You heard me, you-"

Was as far as he got before he felt pain in his mid-region. He didn't even blink. Just sudden pain arriving when he least expected it. That's when the youth realized he was clutching his stomach in pain. He tried to breath but even that was difficult. As he got on his knees to assuage the pain, he looked up and regretted it.

Now that the figure stood at its full height, he got a clear picture of who 'Crimson' was. A red streak stood out in the middle of its head while the rest was under the spines. A white tuff of hair made up the chest of the being and makes you wonder if you can sleep in it. Complete with what looked like red and white rocket shoes and gold wristbands, 'Crimson Streak' set his most well-known assets on the youth.

His blood red eyes. Eyes that made you made think twice about double-crossing the owner. Eyes that even made those with the strongest of wills bow down. Eyes that regarded you will varied patience.

That's when the youth knew that the next words that came out of his mouth was his last.

"S-sorry I offended you. Just expected some tall guy who wears crimson, you know? Hehehe…"

"State your business or get out."

The youth gulped and dove right in. "Right, here's the story. You know the lotto game, right? Were people pick random numbers on a ticket and if those numbers are called on the news, they win cash right? Well, I happened to be the lucky bastard who won the thing. You could tell how happy I was." Crimson noted that his eyes looked alight with greed but kept quiet. "Anyways, I couldn't contain how happy I was! Right then and there at a grocery store, I bragged to everybody that I was on cloud nine! In my fervor, I didn't notice this one guy who didn't look too friendly. And from the looks of his friends, they shared the sentiment. They followed me after I cashed in and threatened to give me the money. I was still confident then so I didn't go down easy. One of his guys decided to mess with me and I managed to hold my own. Good thing the cops showed to because it was about to get intense."

The youth then got to the nitty gritty. "The first guy happened to be the leader and he promised me that I would die by tomorrow and collect my money. I thought it was a bluff but when I came home from a friend's house, it was in shambles. And my bedroom wall had a message carved on it. It said 'By tomorrow, you're dead.' I called my brother on the payphone and told him to come get me but he couldn't because of business back home occupying him until tomorrow. This is where you come in. I want you to find those guys and kill them by tomorrow evening. I'll pay you a quarter of my winnings if it's done."

Crimson looked at the youth for a moment. Studying him like a predator would. Then he spoke. "It would seem you messed with Kuroda's gang. He doesn't cause trouble unless you provoke him." He paused again. "Very well. Come back at 5:00 pm. The job will be done. Make sure to bring the money. Now leave."

The youth obeyed. He couldn't look in those eyes anymore. He'll be having nightmares for sure. Thank god he was leaving tomorrow.

* * *

Kuroda was on a mission. Usually, he and his gang didn't directly go after anybody unless he was in a drunken rage (God, pray for the victim.). But this punk acted like he was better than hard working people and took on his men. With the contacts he established in Westopolis, he found the punk's place and destroyed it. That was to send a message.

He was dying today and taking that cash.

One of his men came up to him, the stench of cigarettes rolling off of him in waves. "Boss, were ready. Let's light the bastard."

Kuroda got up from his seat and prepared for the job but a scream tore through his hideout. "AAHHHHH!"

That instantly got him alarmed. Even more so when another tore through. That wasn't possible. The punk didn't look like he had strong friends. So why were his men…oh shit! If he was right-

"Get out of here quickly! Crim-" Was as far as he got before the man in front of him got his head chopped off in a second. The head rolled on the ground in a frozen expression of fear. The blood continued to pour out of the body as Kuroda backed up from the growing puddle.

"I know you here, Crimson! If that punk hired you, you're nothing but a slut who cares about a pretty penny!"

"I wonder about that…"

His smooth voice cut through the room. Kuroda loaded his pistol and aimed its sights all around the room. He heard of Crimson's exploits all around Westopolis. Hell, people come from all over just to get his services. Why?

He never failed at his jobs.

And if that punk hired Crimson to kill him, then he was done. A shame too. Sometimes, he wanted someone like Crimson in his gang. Effective. Sharp. Brutal. Traits he liked. But that didn't mean he mean he was going down easy.

Kuroda fired in all the spots in the room. The bullets clashed with the concrete of the dark hideout. The man knew he might attract attention with his recklessness but he didn't care.

Once he ran out of ammo, Kuroda scanned the area. Bullet holes littered the area with smoke wafting in the after. Kuroda tried to calm himself but the beating of his heart pounded his eardrums and clouded out everything else.

"You know this is nothing personal, Kuroda. Just business. I actually respected the rep you held in this city. But I guess this was bound to happen."

That was the last thing Kuroda heard before he saw no more.

* * *

Crimson eyed the youth in front of him. Sometimes, he wondered if his clients deserved to live. Then again, considering who he was, he kept his mouth shut.

"Kuroda is no more. You can leave this city knowing that."

"Thank you so much, Crimson. Again, I apologize for doubting you. Here's your cut."

After the youth dropped the proper amount of bills, he left just as quickly.

Crimson eyed the money. Now that he wasn't Crimson anymore, he reflected himself as Shadow the Hedgehog. But then again, was there a difference between the two?

Once upon a time, he wondered how he came to being. Then after realizing his talents, he decided to use them for something. After he learned the meaning of being a mercenary, he took it up. Turned out he excelled at it. So much that he gained the moniker 'The Crimson Streak' because of his red and black scheme and the pure speed he exhibited. Honestly, he wanted a better name but he cared less.

And the rewards…well they were more of a formality than anything. He actually didn't need the money but he figured it would be useful down the line.

That's right. Shadow didn't care about the past. He dealt with the present and prepared himself for the future.

* * *

**Yello, guys! This story was actually the first one that I wrote/published for fanfiction. I stopped because I **** lost the motivation to continue with it. Who knows? Maybe it'll happen again. But over 15 chapters of it are just sitting in my hard drive so why not see where it goes? **

**Criticism is gold.**


	2. Humans are out there

**Review Responses**

**ChelseaSienaJosephineCassandra: If this is your real name...0_0 Anyways, I'm surprised you recognized this story considering its been two years I think? Thanks for the support and look forward to her again!**

**Guest: This was my first story so the grammar is a bit off, I won't lie. As I re-upload them, I do change the wording here and there to make it transition better. It gets better...hopefully. **

**werewolf lover99: Uhh...I'm not accepting OC's at the moment. And OC's, in my case, are a means to an end. They only exist to show what kind of impact Shadow makes so...**

* * *

Shadow sat in his meditative position, eyelids closed in a calm manner and lips set in a thin line. He supposed he was 'OPEN' like a store would say. He didn't have a schedule like most forms of work because in the mercenary business, one would perform his/her job at any given time. No, whenever he was off, he meditated and prepared himself. It was also a plus that he got rest from it. One of his more cordial clients taught it to him because she claimed to 'perceive an aura of infinite stress' around him. That particular client always egged his curiosity as to why she always tried to sleep with him. Shadow figured he didn't look special…well-

A knock of his door interrupted his musings. Let's see. The person knocked once. And it was a soft one too. Female? Maybe. He had knocks on his door that were forceful and they varied. Hmm…another minute then.

Shadow was silently surprised. The person didn't knock again. And he sat quiet for three minutes. He wondered about the client today. "Come in."

The person footsteps were light as they trudged in the low-lit room. They also had a soft voice, if her quiet gasp didn't give it away. They were female huh?

"So you're Crimson? I can see why the bartender looked guarded when I talked about you."

Her voice sounded soft. Too soft. His clients must be getting chatty about him. Either that or some people connected the dots about the recent death of Kuroda.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Elizabeth. Liz if you prefer. The reason why I'm here is simple. I want protection for the day. Westopolis is getting too dangerous for my likes. Therefore I'm finding a new location to live. Preferably Station Square. Crimes that happen there get quelled fast. So there are a couple of things I need to do before leaving." She paused for a moment, fidgeting a bit in place for whatever reason." I don't know if you heard but people around here are growing restless. After Kuroda's gang was murdered, new gangs are forming and cops can barely keep a lid on it. With someone like you watching my back, I can perform my tasks without looking over the shoulder and finding any random mugger."

Shadow noticed that she hesitated for a bit. He heard of the task. She must be coming up with a proper payment. "I…I don't have much money to spare but if you accept, I can…be a contact for you in Station Square." A contact? "My profession is a therapist so I regularly see people about many different things. Ah…part of my technique to release stress from my patients is to have them discuss real life events and they're opinions on them. Give perspective and all of that, you understand. I can relay anything that sounds useful if you ask."

Shadow had been in the mercenary business for as long as he can remember. 'Maybe a year or so?' He couldn't really tell. Regardless, one of the many things he lacked was contacts spread out in any notable location. Mainly because he couldn't be bothered to care about what other people did. And he figured that his rep would scare people enough that if they failed in their task, the penalty was a swift death. Meditation did give him some patience but when in situations actually mattered…

Regardless, an opportunity presented itself. Shadow analyzed it for a moment and came to the conclusion that there were no negatives. If anything, he would get info from a direct source instead of a broad source like the media.

With that decision, Shadow sat up and faced his client, who gasped when she saw his front appearance. Did they have to do that every time?

"You propose something interesting. When the job is done, we shall work something out."

Shadow saw that she was still staring at him. He knew he was fast but he almost missed something in Elizabeth's brown eyes. Was that…._lust_?

"O-oh right! You can start now. While the sun is still high in the air."

She turned around and exited his space with him following her. Humans were weird.

* * *

Shadow stood atop a building as he eyed Elizabeth having a conversation with some other woman around her age. Probably a friend of hers or something.

Quite frankly, this job was easy compared to his last one. The worst that happened was a couple of men looking at her with less than good intentions. A quick glance at them sent them packing though.

He honestly didn't see any difference in this city pre or post Kuroda gang. The people trudged on as always. Cautious, but always moving and not wasting time. Maybe it was because of the constant gangs popping up all over the city? Again, Shadow cared less. He didn't get out much unless he had work to do.

And no one dared to mess with him.

His sharp eye caught a signal from Elizabeth to stand close to her. It didn't take long to conjure some Chaos energy to teleport to her position in a burst. He did get some satisfaction from making the woman jump.

"Eliza, this is Crimson. Crimson, this is my baby sister, Eliza."

Shadow gave a sharp nod in her direction but she didn't stop staring. He looked directly in her eyes and saw the same emotion in Elizabeth's eyes. What the hell?

"Y-you're _**the**_ Crimson Streak? Well I guess I can understand why the common crowd calls you that. Still, I expected someone…a bit taller."

Shadow got used to those comments. Yes, he was only 3ft 3 inches. A 3ft, 3 inch being of mass destruction. Once people understood that, they didn't comment on it again. Though for those that wanted to throw that fact in his face to one up him, a quick punch to the stomach always made them a few inches shorter.

Shadow turned to his client. "Are you done here?"

"Yes. I just came here to inform my sister about my departure and entrust a few things to her. One more place to go to and your job is done."

"Very well." With that, Shadow transported out of the room. He however didn't catch the expressions that were on the sister's faces.

"Liz….you still have that fetish?"

The brunette just looked at her feet with a heavy blush. "I know you said it isn't healthy to have that kind of fetish, and for a time I got over it, but one look at him and it came back full force. I almost lost it when I stared into his eyes for more than two minutes."

"Sister…but I don't blame you. He already has that dark and handsome look down. If only he was taller…"

"You do realize he's an Anthro, right?"

Eliza had a fierce smirk on her face. "So? If they fit my criteria, I'm game!"

Elizabeth shook her head at her still young sister. She was the more energetic of the siblings while Liz herself was more mellow and calm.

"Anyways, I have to get going. Be careful, Eliza. If you need any help, call me or Crimson."

"I'll be fine. Though I may invite Crimson over sometime…"

Shaking her head, Elizabeth hugged her sister and left her apartment.

* * *

Shadow looked at the sunset peeking out from the horizon. One of his most deep, dark secrets was looking at sunsets for their calming aura. Next to meditating, it made him relax and feel at peace within himself.

It also made him certain thoughts pop up in his developed mind, more specifically on the topic of where he stood in terms of whether he could be classified as 'good' or 'evil'.

In more honest terms with that subject, Shadow didn't believe in any of those things. Once you became a mercenary, the world didn't look any brighter or darker. There was just grey. In the past, there were missions where he had to assassinate someone because the client couldn't conduct business with them alive. There was another where he robbed an artifact that sold for millions in another country to keep his client in business.

Hell, there was a time where he had to kidnap a leader's newborn child to hold as ransom. That particular mission ended better than he thought because there was actually no need to capture the baby. In fact, he was close to capturing the child when the client called it off to inform him of a compromise with the leader.

It was extreme, yes, but that showed how dedicated Shadow was with his position. He acknowledged that his power could either improve this world or destroy it. Yet, he would leave that job to the humans, as foolish as they were.

It was at that time that Elizabeth walked up to him and peered up at the branch he was standing on.

"Ready to go?"

"Not yet. I just…well if you don't mind, I have a couple of questions I want to ask you." Shadow raised an eyebrow at her as he urged her on. "Well…I'm curious, to be honest. Why are you a mercenary?"

Shadow looked straight into her eyes to see if there was any hidden motive behind that question. After seeing none, he said "You haven't gained enough trust for me to answer that question."

Elizabeth tried to squash the disappointment in her eyes. "Oh…" She stared at the sunset again. The intense orange and red colors were painted in the sky and it gave off a soothing yet mystical. It always made her feel at peace. "It's understandable. We share a client-employee sort of relationship. To you, I'm just another stranger."

"Yeah."

Both stayed quiet for another few minutes and basked in the final moments of the sun for the day. Shadow spoke again. "So about that contact deal?"

"Oh yes. Like I've said earlier, as a therapist, I can gather information discreetly from my patients when they relieve stress. I also happen to take walks in the parks. You would be surprised at what you can hear when you go there." She looked at Shadow who still looked at the sun in the distance. "I can accumulate my findings in basic reports on a day to day or a weekly basis if you prefer. All that really matters is how I get the info to you."

It was simple as that? Shadow should've looked into this sort of business sooner. "It is no trouble to get to Station Square. As for the meeting place, you said yourself that you like going to parks. I can meet you at the main park once a month. Preferably on the weekends. Is that fine to you?"

"Sure. I can work something out. I will have all the info you need when you're ready."

"Very well."

Once again, they fell silent. As the dark purple of the sky started to settle, both parties found benefits on live off of in one day. One to help deal with the future, one to possibly…liven up the future.

Pray for the latter.

* * *

**Criticism is gold.**


	3. Is green your favorite color?

There was a hard knock on the door this time. It was different compared to two weeks ago. For some reason, Shadow didn't get many missions this particular month. The ones he already got were easy enough and he figured that it was the 'calm before the storm' type thing. If it was, Mother Nature was late on her schedule. Either way, he let the days pass by meditating and conducting some light training. Even though his life wasn't on the line most of the time, staying sharp in his hand to hand combat brought immediate satisfaction.

"Come in." The door creaked open followed by footsteps that sounded cautious. Shadow guessed that the person must be scanning his environment. Very cautious indeed.

"You're Crimson, huh? Could've missed ya if I didn't look down." Another short comment. "Anyways, I heard of ya and your exploits. Pretty good stuff too. If those sayings aren't exaggerated, robbing a bank for me and my boys should be no problem, right?"

A bank robbery? A mission like that wasn't unlikely. It's just Shadow never had to rob anything in a while. It was something different, really. He mostly specialized in assassination or protection but infiltration was something he could do too.

"Care to shed some more light on your story? Like the location to start."

The male chuckled. "Forgot about the details. The bank is in a town not far from Westopolis. The town itself is lazy compared to this place. The people there think nothing bad ever happens to them. Sad for them that after tomorrow, they won't be able to say that again. About $500,000 should be good enough. You can get a cut from that amount as your reward but no more than 25%. Deal?"

Shadow got up and faced his client. "Very well. I need some way to contact you when the job is done."

After getting over Crimson's appearance, the male reached into his pocket and gave Shadow a crumbled piece of paper that managed to make the number written on it legible. "I'm about to drop that number by tomorrow so make sure you get the money by tonight and no later. I'll be waiting."

* * *

Shadow stood atop a building as he finished his recon on the bank. All in all, the client had accurate intel. The security didn't look alert; there were too many escape points, not enough intervals, etc. Either the people here were too confident or too lazy.

Another easy mission. After forming his plan, Shadow got to work.

* * *

"So Ted, what goes on in your life?"

"God, you ask that same question every time we get the same shift together. It's as normal as it can get."

"And that's why I keep asking you. Something is got to happen in this city."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well…I just want something major to happen you know. Like a shootout or a competition. I dunno, something exciting to happen round' here."

"If you want something exciting to happen, go to Station Square or Westopolis or somewhere."

"I tried but my girlfriend likes the quiet life too much to move. She's beautiful, real beautiful, but its like she's happy just being there instead of wanting happen to anything _while_ being there. It's killing me sometimes!"

Ted just yawned and stretched his muscles before getting back into position. "Why don't you just tell her what's up and be done with it."

The officer just snorted. "If it were that easy, I would have done it already." A faraway look appeared in his eyes. "It's just, I like her too much to try and get her to change, you know? It's a conundrum on me."

"Great, not only is my partner for this shift a thrill seeker, he's a love sick puppy. And I was hoping to catch some Zz's before my shift is done."

"….you suck, Ted."

Both men didn't even notice the security cameras make a crackle sound as they talked. Even if they tried, they couldn't see the red and black blur moving through the sleek hallways performing his mission.

* * *

It didn't take long for Shadow to find the place of interest. The vault in front of him had a polished silver sheen to it that gave you your reflection if you directly stared at it. The lock to it was a circular lock that had 8 cylinders poke out of it from all sides.

But that's not what Shadow stared at. He had his attention on a device engraved in the wall. It had a black rectangle with a pad of the nine digits underneath it. This meant that the safe was electronically locked and needed a passcode to get inside.

He encountered these a few times but the client always dealt with them. From his memory, a random four digit phrase was needed. Stepping up to the pad, Shadow tried his hand.

8034….access denied.

7452….access denied.

4509….access denied. This was getting annoying.

3423….…access denied.

20 more tries and Shadow felt the urge to smash his fist into this device and break into the safe with force. But this operation was delicate no matter how easy it was. Getting the cameras to malfunction was easy since he found the control room for them. Traveling through the base was also easy since he was the fastest being alive.

This however made things a bit more challenging. Shadow couldn't waste any more time. The time, from what he remembered from a screen in the control room, told him that the day was close to being over. He couldn't let this small setback stop him.

So Shadow sat in front of the keypad and meditated for a bit. Whoever knew the passcode had to be a person of authority. Someone who only gave the code to select people out of trust and obligation. Someone who had the responsibility to handle something of this magnitude…

Then the answer came as he opened his eyes.

* * *

Shadow eyed the bank manager from an air vent. He was a middle aged man with graying hair clashing with the still dominant brown. He wore the professional black suit with tie and everything. He was talking to someone on his phone because it sounded like someone was yelling though it was muffled and hard to make out.

Shadow should have guessed that the boss would hold the passcode. That keypad just frustrated the hell out of him that he didn't think anything of it.

Now he sat waiting for the chance to get the passcode. He couldn't interrogate the man because it would take too much time and it would lead him to do…unnecessary things to make the boss forget his existence. No need for deaths at a time like this.

So when the man finally hung up from his phone, Shadow swiftly jumped from the vent and delivered a swift chop to the back of the man's head. That would put him out for at least an hour of two. And it didn't take much longer to find the passcode in the main drawer in front of the boss.

"8035…." The first code the put in was 8034. It was official.

Shadow hated keypads.

* * *

Now this mission was challenging. Not because of the thrice damned keypad, but of because of a small problem that Shadow overlooked.

Transporting the money.

After entering the passcode, the vault opened and the first thing Shadow saw was piles upon piles of gold bars and bills stacked neatly in cabinets and tables.

And from this vault he had to steal $500,000 worth. He already guessed that one bag full wasn't going to be enough but the amount of money he needed to get to his client…

Shadow close in eyes in thought. Maybe if he had a vehicle or something it would work but he didn't know how to drive or have the time to get one. Maybe dashing in and out of the bank with $10,000 worth in 5 bags each time? No. That would draw too much attention. The sudden wind he from his speed would make people curious. No, he needed to do this discreetly.

Then a thought came to him…then a plan. It would cost him later, but he would deal with it. Making a quick dash to the boss's office, he took out the crumbled piece of paper form his chest fur and dialed the number on the phone.

After a few rings, the client answered the phone. "Who is this?"

"This is Crimson. I need you to come to this location quickly…"

* * *

Shadow eyed the men working as they loaded bag after bag of the stolen money in a van. He wondered for a fleeting moment if all of the money can fit in that thing. Or if they were going to get noticed with patrols and security on the borders. If they messed it up-

"You do good work, Crimson."

Shadow's client interrupted his thought by saying that and walking up to him with a big grin on his face. "I don't know if you know, but you actually hauled in more than the required moment. I can tell."

Shadow eyed the back of the van. It certainly looked full with the space being filled up with continuous bags and gold bars.

"With this, we're going to be set for life. You don't know how much you helped us with this, Crimson ol' chap!" Shadow narrowed his eyes as the familiar tone his client tried to describe him as. "Heheh. We'll stay mutual but I'm telling ya, we can be fast buds."

"Boss, the money is loaded! Let's beat it for the cops show!"

The client nodded and turned back to Shadow. "Nevertheless, here's your cut. Remember, that number is going dead by tomorrow so if you try to call me, you're out of luck." Another narrowing of his eyes. "Alright, alright. You don't have a funny bone. I tried. Hope to do business again with you, Crimson."

Throwing Shadow a two finger salute, the young client went in the driver's seat and drove away at top speed. Shadow eyed the van as it gradually faded into the background.

Then let out a small gasp as he fell to his knees and held himself up by his hands.

He used up more energy than he thought. The plan to transport the money was to continuously Chaos Control back and forth from the vault to a clearing where he met up with the client.

Unfortunately, he underestimated how much energy he actually used to do this. This was one of the cases were he took off his inhibitor rings in his wrists to temporarily use the boost of power to help him with this.

The stamina drain, not to mention the excess use of the power made him feel weak and vulnerable.

It was a wonder as to why he's still standing. Maybe he didn't want to lose the strong, indestructible look in front of his client? Possible. All he knew was that he wanted to sleep and regain some of his strength.

In a blur, Shadow dashed off again leaving the grass of the clearing to rustle once more as it became vacated.

* * *

**Finals week. Such tiredness. Much studying. Bleh.**

**Criticism is gold**


	4. Blood comes with the job

**Quick AN: To the Guest that wants their characters in my story: No. I said before that I'm not accepting OC's for this story. If you want your characters to be featured, make an account on Fanfiction and write your own story starring them. If you keep persisting, I'm turning off anonymous reviews. **

* * *

'_Shadow…'_

_A voice? He never heard this voice before._

'_Shadow…'_

_Was it from a past client? No, this voice sounded young. _Too young_._

'_Please…'_

_Who? Who is this voice? _

'_Shadow…please…'_

_How did this voice know his real name? Who…_

'_Shadow…'_

* * *

Shadow's snapped open as he stared at his ceiling wide awake. After the bank robbery mission, he quickly made into his hideout and slept on the hard floor. He didn't care if he got any comfort at all, he just needed to rest and regain his energy.

Yet, when he closed his eyes and slept, he had that dream. Granted, he had dreams before when he closed his eyes and meditated. But this dream…it felt weird.

Weird in the sense that even though Shadow told himself that it was a dream, it felt…so real. The voice sounded too young to be a client and clients never ended up in his dreams. And that was because the clients themselves were people he never saw again.

So who did that voice belong too?

Shadow racked his brain for an hour as he meditated to try and find an answer. At the end of it, he didn't find anything in his memory related to that voice.

It didn't help that most of his memory was still a bit fuzzy to begin with so trying to remember anything was tricky. Though he didn't press on what happened, he did wonder from time to time.

Still, this sort of thing was messing with his head. So Shadow decided to get some fresh air and clear his head. He figured that if he went on a mission now, he would be distracted and pay for it.

So for the first time in a while, at least as far as Shadow remembered, he took the day off.

* * *

The wind was blowing with a gentle breeze today in Westopolis. Not the strong wind that would ruffle dresses or literally 'blow' you away. Just the sort of breeze that would mess with your hair and make you stick your tongue and let the invisible mass touch it.

Shadow walked through the city of Westopolis with the wind tickling his fur and mind shut to everything around him. He felt…weird in a sense at this moment. Ever since he made the decision to become a mercenary for hire, Shadow never decided when it was time to stop and take a vacation. He always felt that there was no time to do anything else but await the next mission.

That made him think about the ever growing money he kept in his personal space. Again, having money was a formality to make sure that people knew that they looked and paid for the best. Actually doing anything with the money he accumulated was a big question mark. Could he give it to charity? Maybe…it did sound promising. Yet, if they took his money, then they were taking blood money.

Or in another words, money that was given to spill the blood of another.

Come to think of it, would any organization or service take his money at the cost of their reputation? Then again, he didn't HAVE to give his money as 'Crimson.'

Then Shadow thought about building a house somewhere…no that was a waste. If he used the money to build or even buy a house, he would be exposed. Shadow didn't need law enforcement on his hide anytime soon. Another idea wasted.

Maybe he could open up a training program?

"Crimson!"

No…well maybe? Shadow stopped in the middle of a street near a park to think about this while ignoring the voice calling to him.

"Crimson!"

If he opened a training program, that would mean he would be the owner of a bonafide mercenary unit trained under him. Would he make the time and effort to train others under his wing?

"Geez, you can't hear me? Crimson!"

Shadow stopped that train of thought and looked up to see a blond girl with green eyes staring at him with a mix of curiosity and some annoyance. She wore a light pink tank top and latex bike shorts under a matching pink shirt and sneakers. It appears she was jogging in the park he ended up in.

But that wasn't important. How did she know his name?

"Who are you?"

The annoyance flashed again. "You don't remember me? Well, it has been a while, but I figured you wouldn't forget a pretty face." Shadow still stared at her with the same blank look boring into her. "*sigh* I'm Eliza, remember? Elizabeth's sister? Former client?"

Now it clicked. "Oh. The brunette woman who asked for a protection detail. I apologize. I tend to forget people who I haven't conducted business with."

"It's ok. I actually yelled because you were just standing in the middle of my jogging path. Everything ok?"

Shadow stared up at her for a minute then walked down the path.

"H-hey!" Eliza jogged up to Shadow and walked at the same pace with him. "I'm actually surprised to see you. My sister told me that she found you in a place that people don't normally go to. I just assumed from there that you don't really go anywhere unless you're on a mission or something…"

Yet, Shadow didn't listen to her because his mind wandered again. This time about reminding himself to tell the bartender about letting certain types of people in his abode.

So for the next few hours, one hedgehog and one human girl walked around Westopolis aimlessly. Sadly, Shadow didn't say much in this adventure. Yet, little did they know, they had company.

* * *

The colors in the sky slowly get darker as the remaining rays of sunset were over Westopolis. Eliza wanted to get home before it became darker and more unsafe so after more constant begging (and unpleasant remarks from Shadow's side), she finally convinced the brooding hedgehog to accompany her.

If she honest to herself, Eliza felt mixed emotions about the creature next to her. It ranged from annoyance, pity, lust (Hey, if you get around the fact that he's an Anthro, he's pretty decent looking. Handsome even.), and happiness.

Granted, she had friends in Westopolis and went out with her fair share of guys, but she didn't feel…satisfied. She wanted adventure. She wanted thrills. And her friends didn't exactly share her sentiment. Sure, Eliza had fun with them and stuff, but she wanted the kind of fun where in that one moment, nothing mattered and life was just _awesome_.

Staring at the dark hedgehog again, she wondered if Crimson could provide that goal for her. He certainly looked like he'd been to places. Hey, he was a mercenary right? It was a longshot but maybe…

"Say, Crimson?"

Before he could respond, the clicks of gun were heard around the two as Eliza suddenly felt leather clasp around her mouth. Her eyes widened when she felt a metal object against her skull.

"Stop right there, Crimson. If you don't want the pretty girl to die, you listen to what I have to say."

Shadow looked up at the man holding the gun against Eliza's head and felt his ears twitch to other thugs getting into position around him.

"You and I have a little…score we need to settle. Everyone may not know, but I do. You killed Kuroda and I want payback." Eliza let out a muffled shriek as the captor dug the gun deeper into her skull into it came into contact with bone. "If you stay there and die like a good vermin, then maybe this girl won't join you."

Shadow stared at the men standing around him, guns gleaming with a low light. They didn't intimidate him, no. It was the fact that there was an innocent involved in this struggle.

He looked up Eliza who stopped moving and stared straight at him to see what his course of action was.

In this situation, one false move would cost the victim's life. One twitch and innocent blood would be spilled. 'Yet…' Shadow mused. 'Is anyone truly innocent in the world?' That sort of question would come from those who have seen it all and lost morals long ago. For all he knew, even the youngest of children could be raised to be a spy at a young age.

Now wasn't the time for his mind to wander. Shadow stared at Eliza again, his blood red eyes staring into her green eyes. She was scared yet she held his gaze. Then something flashed in her eyes.

Recognition.

So she was prepared for whatever happened.

"Hey! You decided or not? If you don't respond, then this pretty girl is going on a one way trip to Hell!"

Shadow made his choice. Just like he always had.

"Close your eyes."

Not bothering to see if Eliza listened, Shadow leapt into action. In a blur, Shadow appeared behind one man and punched him in the skull.

Bullets littered his last location but entered no flesh. All the men grew anxious as they put their backs against each other. Their eyes tried to find even a hint of black and red fur on the street or on the surrounding buildings. It didn't help that the darkness of the night was setting in.

Suddenly, a scream was echoed followed by another. The two bodies fell to the ground in a bloody mess. Holes presenting themselves from the center of their chests.

"That little shit had a gun?"

"Must be a silencer."

"H-how the h-hell can that thing even shoot a gun?!"

That man was the next one to fall. Then another after a strike to the head and a harsh collision to a steel pole.

In less than two minutes, more than half of the men that came with the intention to kill were laid out on the cold, unforgiving street. And more followed with gruesome fates. Both Eliza and her captor stared at this is unrelenting fear. Right before their eyes, they witness the power of the famed mercenary.

The power of 'Crimson Streak'.

Shadow then appeared in front of the captor, covered in blood and grime but paid no heed to it, and bored his red eyes into his brown ones.

"Run or die."

The captor wisely chose to flee. "Y-y-y-y-you'll pay for t-this!"

After Eliza was apprehended, she straightened herself out and tried to control her breathing and calm her heart. A minute later, she looked at her dark savior and saw him staring at the direction the man fled. She saw firsthand what Crimson was capable of.

And it _scared _her. But…

"Crimson…"

"Go home. And watch your back."

Before she could say anything, Crimson teleported in a flash of light.

* * *

From a nearby alleyway, two shady figures saw everything that happened in that street. They didn't want to believe it, but what they saw was the real deal.

"HQ, come in. Repeat, HQ come in…"

"This is the Captain. Report."

"Sir, we have confirmed the location of Project S.H.A.D.O.W. The target goes by the moniker, 'Crimson Streak'."

The G.U.N commander widened his eyes a little at the report. "So it lives…return to base immediately, Delta squad. I want a full report ASAP."

* * *

**Hope everyone had fun during their holidays and avoided Writer's Block.**

**Criticism is gold.**


	5. Who sent ya?

"…and from there, the subject teleported/vanished from the street. Leaving the civilian unattended."

The G.U.N Commander had an emotionless mask throughout the entire debrief. It wasn't hard to craft and design one that wouldn't crack under any situation. That's what it meant to be a leader of the strongest army on the planet.

That didn't mean that in his mind, thoughts swirled at speeds that would make Sonic deny anyhow.

He still couldn't believe that after all of this time, Project S.H.A.D.O.W was still alive. He assumed, just like the rest, that it met its end when the capsule was launched from space. No one survives in space, after all.

But to hear that it was still alive? And to be the rumored Crimson Streak?

Quite the shocker. Truth be told, G.U.N heard of Crimson Streak's work through the different spy networks littered throughout the world. Most of it involved doing the sort of things that made law enforcement look like fools.

Assassination. Infiltration. Mass murder. Trafficking of drugs and illegal products. The list goes on and on. This guy apparently didn't care what he did so long as he got a pretty penny in the end. G.U.N tried numerous times to try and corner him, or at least get a proper physical description of him.

Turned out the people that hired him were more tight lipped then he thought. They denied working with him even if they knew they were lying to the very end. He assumed then that Crimson Streak did good work and entrusted some sort of camaraderie with them. His best interrogators didn't get squat. And Crimson always laid low so there were no concrete locations to work with.

Until now. He had the intel. He had the resources. He had all the pieces. Yet, the foe he was up against wasn't simple. No…

He was up against a weapon that was supposed to serve him.

Then and there, the G.U.N Commander decided to go the careful route. Sending all of his forces at once was too risky. This operation had to be delicate. Had to be perfect. He couldn't fail.

It was truly fortunate that he had just the operative to handle the first part of this mission.

"Bring me…"

* * *

Shadow breathed in once more as he finished his meditating session. Now that he was 'on the job' so to speak, he focused his mind once more for whatever his client wanted him to do.

If he had to repeat what he did the other day, he would. Looking back at that, Shadow thought the whole ordeal was pointless. People wanted him dead just because he did his job? Granted, he didn't look like a saint but he held no grudges towards anyone.

He killed Kuroda because it was his job. Nothing more, nothing less. He held no ill will towards the guy but he was just an unfortunate victim of circumstance. If more blood was to be spilled over this, well than at least he would grant the mercy of warning people before it happened.

Shadow's ear twitched when he heard a knock on the door. The knocks weren't hard but held some weight to it. He guessed it was an average person. Male or female, he couldn't tell.

So Shadow decided to have them wait for the usual 5 minutes. To his surprise however, the person spoke.

"You know, it isn't good etiquette to keep someone waiting. Especially if the job is needed to be done at a certain time."

Shadow stared at the door for a brief second before choosing to make the smartass wait more. He didn't want to be lectured by someone who didn't even know what his job fully entailed.

Another set a minutes passed before the voice spoke again. "If you don't let me in now, I'll take my business somewhere else."

"Enter."

The client turned the knob and entered his abode. Shadow noted that the shoes this particular client wore made noise. The clacking sort of noise when the heels of certain shoes clashed with hard pavement.

"Seriously. If the hallway is to say anything, then this place is just as depressing. Have you ever thought of purchasing a light bulb that actually _lights_ this place up?"

The tone belonged to a woman. An overconfident one if Shadow heard any before. He instantly held some contempt for her.

"Didn't you hear me? If you're deaf, then I don't see how your reputation would precede you." More insults. Just equals more silence. "…*sighs* is there anywhere to sit? My legs are killing me. I had to ask a lot of people around here for this place and my patience is somewhat straining right now." Shadow heard more clacks before she made herself comfortable on a random crate. "Just waiting on you."

"State your business or leave."

"To the point, are you? Not even asking about my day? Because there are a million things I can talk about right now." When Shadow said nothing again, the woman sighed once more and decided to get punctual. "Alright, alright. It's a simple job, really. My name is Rouge the Bat. Best treasure hunter you will ever get the pleasure of knowing. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." She made a humming sort of noise before she spoke again. "I basically want you to assist me in rob-borrowing a high carat diamond from a very famous museum. That precious thing would look better in my collection than on display."

Shadow noted the somewhat faraway tone when she talked about the diamond. At least she sounded like there was something to take pride in. Otherwise, he would've written her off as some narcissist. Oh well, that didn't matter. Getting up from his sitting position, both beings took in the either with Rouge widening her eyes just a tiny bit.

Unlike most of his clients, she was an Anthro just like him. She wore a skintight black body suit along with a big heart shaped breastplate that hugged all of her curves and…assets. Along with that, she wore long white gloves and white thigh high boots with pink hearts on the toes (with heels that make those loud clacks). Her fur was white while her skin was a tan color. Finishing it off with a pair of wings and blue green eyes, Shadow's latest client was attractive to say the least. Sad he didn't care about those minute details.

He couldn't say the same for Rouge because she was eyeing him up and down, taking in everything from shape to attire. After a minute, she looked up to his eyes. "Well, you certainly fit the dark and handsome theme. If only you were a bit taller…then again I can look past that."

"Does the mission start now?"

"Impatient, aren't we? We don't _have _to start now, but the sooner I get the diamond, the better."

"And payment?"

"I can lend you one of my precious jewels that I fought tooth and manicured nails for. Or money since I have some lying around. Your choice. I'd prefer if you choose the latter though. I really did break some nails that day and I paid good money to make them look good."

Shadow stared at her with narrowed eyes before he walked towards the door. "Money is fine."

When the dark hedgehog left, Rouge just sighed and shook her head. "No sense of humor…"

* * *

The city that the museum was located at was a fair distance from Westopolis so both Shadow and Rouge made tracks as soon as they left. Shadow was confident that he could get there in 20 minutes at his speed. The only thing holding him back was the annoying bat.

It was like she was a broken record. Something always came out of her mouth. He lost track after she talked about the latest fashion. *shudder*

Surprisingly, she could hold her own against his speed. Not as fast, but her flight capabilities gave her a distinct edge. At least it was something he could respect about her.

"Hey, you have any particular likes?"

"Finishing the mission."

"…really? That's it? I thought you were joking." Shadow didn't answer. "I really should have found someone else."

Though in actuality, she couldn't. One, because she didn't know any other mercenary. Maybe Sonic, but that hedgehog was too much of a goodie, goodie hero. Two, she didn't _need_ help getting her precious jewels. She wasn't the famous treasure hunter for nothing. Third…

_Flashback_

"_You called for me?"_

_Rouge sauntered into the G.U.N commander's office in her usual pace. It was a bit of a surprise that the president of Station Square told her that G.U.N needed her skills. She didn't know whether to feel proud or confused about it._

_With his back to Rouge as he looked out of his window, the commander spoke. "Yes. I have heard about the skills you possess in terms of infiltration. Even though it isn't used for the right reasons, it is admirable nonetheless."_

_Rouge smirked. "I know you didn't call me here just to keep praising me. Even if I like it."_

"_You're right. I have a mission that I need someone of your skillset to perform." At that time, the commander turned around and put a manila folder on his desk and slid it in Rouge's direction. _

_Curious, Rouge walked to the desk and opened the folder. Her blue green eyes were scanning every page and detail inside it. When she was done, Rouge looked up at the commander. "Project S.H.A.D.O.W?"_

"_Yes. It was a top secret program conducted by the U.F fifty years ago in order to research immortality. Our top scientist, Gerald Robotnik, was in charge of it and due to his genius, made success in this field. However, G.U.N grew to fear those very successes because the result, otherwise known as 'Biolizard', was out of control and wielded too much power." The commander's voice grew solemn as he turned to the window again. "I was there when we were ordered to go into ARK and eliminate all evidence and traces of Project Shadow. In the final moments, one capsule managed to escape from the space station. After our job was done, G.U.N used its resources to find that capsule but held no success. We wanted to know what was in it because we refused to let Project Shadow exist again." He turned to Rouge. "Years later, we find a specimen related to the same project. We're not sure where it stands in terms of threat level. That is where you come in, Agent Rouge. We need you to learn about everything concerning this specimen. I don't care how you do it, but we need intel that can be properly judged. Do you accept?"_

_Rouge appeared to be in some deep thought as she lowered her head a bit. After a while, she looked at the commander again. "That's a big responsibility you're putting on me. Not that I'm upset or anything." She stared at the folder again then said. "If the reward is worth it, I'll do it. I won't lie that I'm actually sort of anxious to learn more about this."_

"_This whole project was meant to be a secret locked behind G.U.N and its forces. If you accept, you keep your mouth shut on it. Otherwise, we'll compensate you accordingly."_

"_Hmm…I think I have an idea as to how to go about this…"_

_Flashback End_

This mission was too important to fail. For her plan to work, she needed her plan to go perfectly. If it worked in the end, everyone went home happy. She stared at the hedgehog that created a dust trail behind him as he skated to the museum.

"I'll know who you really are."

* * *

The museum that Shadow and Rouge ended up at had a fairly decent security detail. In the areas where there were no human guards, infrared lasers and motion sensors littered the hallways. A series of acrobatic maneuverers and silent travel solved that particular problem. It was also fortunate that Rouge handled the keypad for the diamond's entrance lock or Shadow would've been more pissed then he already was.

Why was he pissed? Simple. This batwoman (among other names he kept to himself) kept insulting and flirting with him back to back. Again, he prided himself for meditating most of the time otherwise he would've snapped long ago.

Thank goodness that the diamond was within sight. Both anthros walked up to where the diamond was displayed. It sparkled with such an intense light that any fanatic (Especially women) would do anything for it. Rouge was no exception.

"So beautiful…" Since Shadow didn't share the sentiment and stood near the door with his arms crossed, Rouge walked close to it and marveled at its luster. "You would look so precious in my private collection." Still entranced by its luster, Rouge reached her glowed hand out and touched the diamond.

That's when things went to hell.

The alarms in the room went off with a blaring sound followed by an 'Intruder in main hall' announcement.

Snapped out of her revere, Rouge pouted and backed up from the diamond. "Too good to be true…"

"Targets acquired. Fire!"

Next thing Rouge knew, she was atop a balcony in Shadow's arms as her former spot had smoke floating out of it. For a second, she felt comfort from the fur on Shadow's chest before it went anyway and felt cold steel from the wall instead.

"Hey, what's the deal? You suddenly realize you couldn't resist me?"

"Shut up and look."

Rouge huffed as she got back on her feet and looked down from the balcony. She saw two objects in the air looking around the area. "What are those things?"

The things Rouge saw were two machines. Both of them had two box like launchers, red and yellow armor, two seated cockpit, and a laser beam cannon sticking out from under it. They continued to hover in the air as they circled the diamond.

"I was so close to getting my precious!"

"Stay here." Before Rouge could respond, Shadow jumped from the balcony and kicked one of the machines into the ground.

"Flying Dog 2!"

From the smoke, Shadow jumped out and dodged the missiles that were launched after him. Seeing the second machine locking on to him, he jumped and tried to punch it only for that Flying Dog to swerve to the left and fire its laser at Shadow. Luckily, Shadow angled his body so he only got a small burn from the little contact the laser made. It still made him glare at the two meddling machines.

"Damage minimal, Flying Dog 1. Resuming termination of intruder, over."

"Copy that."

Both machines then fired more missiles from their launchers at Shadow. Said being jumped from the ground and threw Chaos Spears in retaliation.

Rouge looked on from the balcony as Shadow fought the Flying Dogs. Little did he know that this was exactly how the situation was to be played out. Now all there was to do was watch as Shadow demonstrated his fighting capabilities in front of the hidden cameras scattered across the room.

5 minutes passed as Shadow finally got rid of one of the Dogs by performing a well-timed Homing Attack. The attack patterns that both machines employed were annoying to the point that he couldn't get close without eating a missile to the face. It didn't help that he almost got burned from those lasers a couple of times.

But thanks to his plan of effectively separating the two, Shadow picked one apart and focused on the last.

First, he feinted by going for another Homing Attack which was dodged. Once uncurled, he threw more Chaos Spears that hit the laser and hover systems. The machine crackled as it fell down from the sky. One more Homing Attack and the last Flying Dog blew up in several pieces while the pilots ejected at the last second and retreated.

Shadow stared at the retreating figures while Rouge flew down next to him. "Not bad. Guess I was right in recruiting you after all."

Shadow looked at her and walked towards the door. "Get your diamond and let's go."

Rouge sighed once again as she looked at her soon to be diamond. "He needs to cut loose…"

* * *

Shadow stared at the aircraft Rouge called upon in the clearing they ran to. He wondered how she was going to carry that thing to wherever she lived.

"Thanks again for helping me, hon~ Bye!" With that, Rouge ignited her engines and flew away. After Shadow stared after it, he dashed back to his hideout. He needed to meditate after this one.

Rouge however looked at a file from the folder. It contained the real name of Crimson Streak.

"Shadow the Hedgehog…"

* * *

**A new year is upon us. **

**Criticism is gold.**


	6. Dress too well for their own good

"You will regard me with the respect that I deserve."

Was there something with these recent clients that made Shadow pissed off?

First the batwoman, and now this fool. Standing in front of him was a man that screamed 'mob boss'. He was of old age since the cane gave him away. His business suit was striped and white in color. The shoes were a coffee brown with steel tips to it. The man himself had narrow eyes and a balding spot on his head.

It was a day after the diamond mission and Shadow moved on from dealing with some annoying client. Now this man not only barged into his private abode without knocking, but demanded his service without asking and returning nothing.

Add the nasty smell of cigars and Shadow was pissed.

"Well?"

"You are obviously a new client. Therefore I should warn you. There is a limit on how much I tolerate. Missions, I can do. Demands…" He narrowed his pools of red at the man "_I don't do."_

After that was said, both human and hedgehog stared at each other in a battle of wills for what seemed like an eternity. Then suddenly, the man laughed. It sounded rough and aged like the throat that produced it was running on its last legs.

"You have some backbone after all. I wanted to make sure your reputation preceded you."

Shadow didn't let up on his glare. Test or not, the man still pissed him off. He gave a silent gesture to get on with it.

"Fine. You're a smart being so you can figure out what kind of business I conduct. The families that live in this city have an annual meeting this year. But this year isn't your average get together. Recently, my boys have managed to secure an heirloom that's passed down to the leaders from generation to generation. Unfortunately," the man's voice sounded a bit disgusted now. "one of my careless men couldn't cover it up properly and now the other families now know of its existence."

Now the man bowed his head a bit in deep thought. Shadow never came into contact with the mafia before. Saw them a couple of times here and there between missions, but never directly associated with them. If he did, then he would only do missions to benefit one source. As a mercenary, he was a jack of _all _trades for _all _types of people. Never a specific one.

The man looked at Shadow again but he saw that his posture gave away some weariness. "That heirloom represents what we stand for as the best family in Westopolis. I cannot bear to lose it. Your mission involves two things. Since I was unfortunate enough to have my restaurant picked as the meeting place, I want you to protect the heirloom and me. I will have no doubt that my heirloom will be a target there. My life is something I can care less about at my age but the heirloom must stay where it belongs. I will pay you a large sum from my accounts and have our family's eternal gratitude."

Shadow took back some of the animosity he held towards him. He still felt a bit wary, but some grudging respect was given. To put your life on the line to make sure an item stayed in your clutches…that was dedication. That's more that Shadow can say for his past clients. Most of them were greedy and didn't care for collateral damage. But he kept to himself. Let them destroy themselves with the consequences of hiring him to achieve their goals.

Shadow walked past the man and turned around once to give an answer. "I may not like you much, but you humored me. Let's go."

* * *

Shadow stared at the meeting place. It was a classy sort of place. The name 'Endless' looked like it bared a lot of elements. The lines glowed in a dull purple light and the windows looked a bit dusty but still polished enough for people to use it as a makeshift mirror. The door had golden handlebars that required you to pull and the glass on it had a somewhat better quality that the other ones.

All in all, it looked like a decent place. Forgettable, but decent. For now, his eyes scanned all the discreet cars that pulled up on the diner's curve. He noted the men in suits and the directions they walked. Shadow did this until his client walked up to him, his cane making noise on the pavement. "The meeting will begin in 10 minutes. Use this time to study all of the chokepoints in the diner and familiarize yourself with the heirloom. When you are done, come to the meeting. I will need your direct protection."

Shadow nodded and entered the restaurant. The first thing he noted was the smell of the chefs cooking their food in the kitchen and the faint smell of cigars. Odd mix of smells but it wasn't surprising because of the people that ventured here. The chairs and tables were red and brown in color and were in rows of two in the front and another two rows in the back. He noted another door between the last seat of the second row and the first seat of the row near the windows. It said 'Emergency Exit' but for this situation it counted as an easy getaway.

Shadow continued in the inner workings as his boots made noise on the tile floor. He stopped briefly in front of two big doors that had a Chinese dragon design on it. He figured that the meeting was going to be conducted there. He then noted that the kitchen was a few meters from it and the supply closet across from it.

Having ingrained the layout in his memory, Shadow went inside the main meeting room. In the center was a wide table draped in a white cloth and littered with plates and forks wrapped in napkins. In the middle of the table was a bouquet of flowers in a vase half filled with water.

It was surrounded by the red that adorned the walls and floor. And on the opposite side of his position, in a see-through case, was the heirloom. It was a Chinese dragon statue made out of sparkling crystal and gold in the minor areas. Shadow walked up to it and stared. The body looked like it was flying through the sky and twisting its narrow body through clouds. Whoever made it had good detail. Especially since Shadow could see his reflection staring back at him. Were he the type, he would've commented on how badass he looked.

He suppressed that urge however. He wasn't an idiot.

"I see you've taken a liking to it."

Shadow saw his client walking up to him in the reflection of the heirloom. He stood next to him and looked at the heirloom with unmasked pride.

"This heirloom was lost for a long time. My father told me that his father made off with it and sold it just to get on easy street early. I never understood at first why he did it but eventually the answer came to me. And I never did forgive my grandfather for it." He sighed and stared at Shadow. "But with how the world can be sometimes, I wouldn't blame him. It's weird, having a sense of honor when you're involved in the mafia scene. But I managed to live to the age of 64 so I can't complain." His cane made noise as he turned around and walked to the entrance to greet the other families. "Get ready. The meeting will start in a few."

Shadow stared at the heirloom one more time before standing near a corner where he'd be able to see the whole meeting take place. The mission started now.

* * *

"This is supposed to be your bodyguard?"

Great. More people pissing him off. Maybe Shadow should just kill this one and be done with it? No…unless he showed the intent to steal the heirloom, he had to back off.

That didn't mean the arrogant mob boss could escape from his death glare however.

"You would do well not to underestimate him. His reputation would make you think twice about it."

The man stared at Shadow again with curiosity. He was a middle aged man with graying hair and wrinkled face. Dress in a striped blue get up with brown shoes, this man exuded confidence and greed. It didn't help that his green eyes showed the greed in more form that his body language.

"And who is he?"

"Crimson Streak."

Suddenly, everyone who was talking in the dining area stopped their conversations and stared at Shadow. His posture turned defensive as he was eyed like prey among predators.

"So this is the infamous Crimson Streak? I've always wondered where you hid in this city." Shadow stared at the green eyed man again. "I had a ton of…_assignments_ that I would've loved for you to have done."

He automatically didn't like this guy. Granted, there were a lot of clients before who probably acted like this guy but he didn't spend much time with them. But this particular man…Shadow decided to keep his eye on him.

"Enough. If you care to leave my bodyguard alone, let us begin this meeting."

The man stared at Shadow again before taking his seat along with others who did the same. "Yes. Let us begin."

For the next hour, the mob bosses conversed on the business dealt with in their territory in Westopolis. From the amount of drugs smuggled in, to the gang control, etc. Shadow made sure to keep his eye on ever one, especially the green eyed one. There were even times during the meeting were the man would stare at Shadow for a brief moment before focusing on the meeting. He definitely didn't trust him.

Shadow stared at the heirloom for a second before he laid his eyes on the table again. The chefs came in through the double doors as they served the men their fine cuisine for the evening.

The man from before then chose that time to excuse himself from the table and walked in the direction of the bathroom. Shadow stared at his client, who gave him a silent signal to follow the man.

Giving a small nod, Shadow walked after him. After closing the doors, he went to the bathroom and noticed that no one was in it. Suspicions raised, he stepped out and quickly checked out very chokepoint in the restaurant in the span of 30 seconds. When he bore no result, Shadow stepped outside and quickly scanned the street. The usual crowd of people went along in their own world and cars drove past without a care.

That's when the unexpected happened. Due to his sharp hearing, Shadow heard a '_click' _before he teleported across the street.

If he didn't do that, he would've been a part of the explosion that went off in the restaurant.

_Shit! _They were already making their move!

Shadow quickly cleared the rubble from the entrance, ignoring the frightened people, and went to the meeting room. The inner restaurant turned from decent looking to desolate. The windows were now pieces of glass scattered on the street and furniture was painted with shrapnel.

Running to the main hall, Shadow opened the door and saw a gruesome sight.

Several bodies were scattered across the room with glass and silverware sticking out of them with caused blood to pour freely. The table look completely destroyed and the food that wasn't digested joined the blood on the walls in an ugly paint attempt.

Hearing a groan from where the heirloom was, Shadow quickly made his way over his client, who had his right hand on his chest and face scrounged in pain.

"C-Crimson…that you?" Shadow gave a nod to confirm. "T-thank goodness y-you…didn't get…caught…" The man was wheezing hard as the sound of ambulances drew closer. "L-listen carefully. I'm not long for t-this world. So I beg of you. Retrieve the heirloom at all costs. Do not let it fall into unworthy hands…please…" Shadow gave another nod. "T-thank you…protect the soaring dragon with your life."

The man then lolled his head to the side and remained silent. Shadow stared at his client. It was truly a shame. Looking back, the man didn't deserve animosity in the first place. He truly was one of the better clients. So Shadow bowed his head in silence for a few moments.

Then he opened his blood red eyes and dashed out of the restaurant before the officials saw him. He couldn't fail this mission.

* * *

**I actually have an idea for this story. But to implement it will be a bit...out there. Especially for Sonic the Hedgehog standards. Future concerns, though. Thanks for the support...little support is better than none.**

**Criticism is gold..**


	7. So full of themselves

"Have you secured the promised item?"

In the backseat of a well-polished limousine, the mob boss dressed in blue sat in the middle of his leather seat legs crossed and a smirk on his face as he stared at the screen in front of him. "Does this answer your question?"

From under his seat, the man brought out a steel suitcase that, which opened with two clicks, contained the diamond heirloom.

The man on the screen stared at the heirloom with nothing but greed in his eyes. "The heirloom of the Yi-ang dynasty. I never thought I would see such a construct of beauty in my day."

"It is isn't it? With this, all of the debts that I owe you will be paid off in full and your continued services will be valued here."

"As long as it gets to the extraction point safely. Until then, you better pray." With that, the man's face disappeared from the screen.

The blue clad man sat back comfortably as he mulled over his situation. All things considered, everything went according to plan. The bomb was planted into the restaurant just yesterday thanks to his inside man. And said inside man was a part of that fool's so called family.

It was amazing how much money and power can influence you.

When he took the reins of the mob business from his father after he killed him, he told himself that very principle was ingrained in every person alive. No matter how innocent one person, they were all greedy in _some_ way.

So why not take advantage of it?

So in the 30+ years he controlled his underground business, he had countless men work under him because it was the easiest way to make a quick buck. Just shoot someone and get a lofty check at the end of the day.

All he asked for was their loyalty and that was that. Sadly, that was how most of them died. Men under him think that as soon as they get the big bucks, they can bail and never look back. Even the braver ones think they can out influence him and take over his business. He dared his newer men to try that and they saw the results.

Never cross the boss.

Sometimes, he wondered if it was truly worth it to have underlings when there was that small chance that they would get too close and try to sink their teeth in deeper than he wanted them to. If there was that one individual who worked under him yet had the cover of being allied with someone else or has different priorities. Like a mercenary…

Like Crimson Streak.

The mob boss smirked a bit at this. He never expected Crimson to have an appearance of a 3ft tall anthromorph. The rumors he heard about him made him think of some tall person who wears red and black colors. Not about some creature that had black fur with red stripes with it.

Yet he saw the look in that thing eyes and witnessed what made him dangerous.

Those eyes. Those were of the eyes of someone who had no qualms when it came to ending someone life to complete goals detrimental to their existence. To put anyone on edge and put the weaker willed into true submission. He valued those types of people. Truly sad that those types of people were few and far between. Between those that only cared for their own wallet, he never saw varied personalities that went to that root.

It was why, at this moment, he wanted to enlist Crimson into his crusade as his personal bodyguard. He can already imagine the amount of people that would be surprised to see his protection detail didn't look like much.

Then when they were bleeding their last drops of blood before his eyes, he would laugh and once again prove that when it came to the underground world, especially in Westopolis, he was _always _on top.

Now to schedule an appointment…

"Sir, we have a runner on us. It looks like…is that Sonic?"

Maybe an appointment would come sooner after all.

* * *

The main streets of Westopolis were wide and spacious to the point that some would admit this city probably had the most lanes in a road. Sometimes, people would complain about the amount of time that traffic signals take up while people cross these big roads. Yet, in the off chance, if there was a race going on, it would be the perfect city to have one in.

That didn't matter to Shadow as he skated through the streets. From what he vaguely remembered of the location of the bar, the boss would have to transfer on this road. If he was planning on exporting the heirloom, he would need to go near a dock somewhere. And as far as his knowledge on this city, Shadow knew the main shipping area would be and the end of this road.

Simple. Especially so since swerving through traffic was a trick he mastered long ago. Yet, he didn't show surprise on his face when four vans came on the road in front of him with thugs pointing their guns at him from their seats and shooting at him.

Shadow weaved through the gunfire as he got closer and closer to the vans. The one closest to him slammed on its brakes and tried to be a roadblock for Shadow directly in front of him.

Too bad he didn't count on Shadow to have fast reflexes. A quick jump over the van and two Chaos Spears to the front tires put that one out of commission. The second van had their driver and the people sitting behind them draw their weapons and open fire on him. Once again, Shadow skated left and right and jumped over cars that weren't involved in the conflict.

The innocents that got injured during this chase wondered where the police was.

Back to Shadow, he decided to end the van by getting closer then ramming into it with a Homing Attack. Due to the force of the attack, the van spun out of control and rammed into a building.

Not bothering to see his results, Shadow increased his speed and continued onward. The vans up ahead managed to contact their comrades and set up a road block in the middle of the street. And if that wasn't enough, each man had high quality weapons at their disposal ranging from assault rifles to rocket launchers. If they saw even one heck of fur, it was getting blasted. Once they did see Shadow coming at them in high speeds, they all fired their weapons. Bullets and rockets were released from their nozzles as they soon clashed with hard pavement in large explosions. Gunfire raided Shadow's last position until 2 minutes was up. All men waited with baited breath as the smoke slowly started to clear.

Suddenly, something shot out of the smoke. Shadow, with chaos energy expelled around him, charged through the roadblock like it was nothing. And as he kept going and destroyed the two remaining vans, the police arrived later and saw the carnage that Crimson Streak caused when anything got in his way.

* * *

The mob boss and his associate made it too the docks despite the happenings in the city. With the heirloom secured in its briefcase, the boss stepped out and looked out at the swirling waves in the ocean as he waited.

"Boss, is this where we meet up with the client?"

The boss stayed silent for a while before he faced his associate. "I am meeting someone. But it isn't with the client."

"What do you me-" Was as far as he goes before his head rolled off his shoulders via Chaos Spear. When the now lifeless body fell to the hard ground, Shadow made his appearance. Though there was some dirt decorated on his fur, he didn't look worse for wear. Especially since he focused his crimson pools on the mob boss.

"Return the heirloom or die."

The mob boss didn't react at first. That was a sign in Shadow's mind so he raised his hand again to perform another Chaos Spear until the mob boss laughed. Shadow stopped but kept his hand up just in case. But the man continued to laugh as if he heard the funniest joke in his life. Then when he settled down, he focused his green eyes on Shadow.

"I will be honest with you." He held the briefcase in front of him. "I don't exactly _need _this thing. The original plan was to take this thing for myself. But since I met you, there is a change of plans." Then he did the last thing Shadow expected him to do.

He put down the heirloom on the ground right in front of his feet.

"Let's make a deal. I return this heirloom to you and we have a 5 minute conversation. No more, no less." The boss went to the associate's dead body and retrieved a phone from a pocket. "You could even keep count. It is currently 5:34 pm. 5: 40 is when you can stop me." Shadow still stared him down and kept his guard. "Still don't believe me." The boss picked up the case again and put it closer to Shadow. Then he backed up with his hands raised. "Clearly, you are the stronger entity here and I know my boundaries. I have nothing to gain by trying to kill you. Again, I just want to talk."

Shadow still didn't trust him. So he slowly walked forward while gathering energy in his hand. By doing that, his right hand looked like it was crackling with electricity. That was to show intimidation. Though it didn't look like it worked, he got the briefcase and went to his side of the pier. Shadow glanced at the phone on the ground and got the time. "5 minutes."

The man smirked. "Let's start by introducing myself. My name is Adrian Bronkoff. I run my own…_business _underneath the shade so to speak." The newly named Adrian walked in a circle while raising the volume of his voice. "My goal is simple. I was never satisfied at ruling one underground business in Westopolis. No, when I realized that I could do much, much more, I started making plans."

"4 minutes."

Adrian simply continued on. "To reach that goal, I need followers. Followers that I can at least trust to not backstab me at the biggest opportunity they can find. And then followers turn into a force. Then from a force into an army." He stopped for a moment then chuckled. "I'm sure there's a better term for where I'm going with this."

"3 minutes."

"And that is where you come in." Adrian challengingly stared into Shadow's eyes. "I've heard of your exploits. Hell, there isn't anyone in the underground that hasn't heard your name in passing. And I'm very, _very _impressed. So impressed, that I actually wanted to meet you right after the meeting. You could say it was fate that brought us here sooner."

"2 minutes."

"It flies, doesn't it? Very well, let's keep it brief. I can be realistic, Crimson. If I dedicate my life to achieving the goal of taking over the criminal underground, I'm bound to have more enemies than I already have. And many followers I'll have, trustworthy there will only be a few." He extended his hand. "Join me, Crimson. Join me and let us rule this underground world together."

Shadow stared at the stretched, weathered hand before looking into the man's eyes. Throughout the conversation, Adrian's tone was nice and even like a calculating person who chose their actions carefully every step of the way. But towards the end, he caught something in his tone. He caught the slightest hint of insanity.

This man would go that far. He saw it in many individuals before on the job. Most of them ended up dead before they knew it. Would this guy be any different?

No. As a mercenary, he only extended his services on a limited basis. This man was asking to swear absolute loyalty to him and only him. That was where he drew the line.

"I refuse."

If the man was disappointed, he masked it well. "Think it over, then. I can't force you to join. No, it would be _tremendously_ better if you joined me on your own accord. But I do believe our time is up. We should leave before the police show up, yes?"

Shadow stared at the man one more time before he picked up the heirloom and dashed up in a crimson blur.

Adrian stared on as he stood their mulling their meeting in his head. He was confident yes, but only time will tell if Crimson would join him. If he did, his plans would accelerate further than they already are.

Speaking of that….

*ring* "…..Yes, it's me. You remember the favor don't you?"

* * *

Since the police was in high alert in Westopolis, Shadow decided to go back to his hideout and wait until the coast was clear to return the heirloom to its owners.

So he sat in his meditative position and stared at the lifeless gold eyes that stared back. Shadow would have lied to himself if he said that the conversation didn't put him on edge. Not much, but a tiny bit.

If a man had goals of grandeur and truly believed it would come true for them, then it would put anyone on edge.

He wondered if there was anyone else out there that had the same intentions.

* * *

**Still mulling the small thing in my head for this story. Other than that, thanks for the support.**

**Criticism is gold.**


	8. Windows to the soul

A couple of weeks have passed since the mob boss gathering. During that time, police officers littered the streets of Westopolis in order to scrounge up any kind of evidence that they could find. Several unfortunate people were questioned and only a few of them were 'caught in the act' so to say. Even after the investigations started to die down, you couldn't walk a single block in Westopolis without seeing a man in uniform.

Some women found that to be a good thing. Among other peace loving folks but you hopefully get the drift.

The death toll for that day reached into the 500's. That number came from those that got caught up in the bomb explosion at the restaurant, those involved in the case on the main highway and any other innocents that were unfortunately at the wrong place at the wrong time. That only gave officials more incentive to find anyone suspicious. So much, that Westopolis had a temporary lockdown.

So as usual, Shadow stayed low in his hideout when the cops were out and about in the city. There were a couple of things he did while he was in his hideout. First, he increased his hate for authority. For some reason, his area in Westopolis just so happened to be crawling with the most police activity. That meant anyone who wanted his services in particular would automatically be questioned.

It really didn't help that most of his clients looked shady most of the time. Being inconspicuous was practically a given if you wanted to hire his services. But that didn't mean to ignore the part where you could be subtle. There was a reason why he could only be contacted in a bar, after all.

Humans never realized that he actually did a favor for them for being situated in a bar in the first place.

The second reason was wondering about that Bronkoff character.

"_Join me, Crimson. Join me and let us rule this underground world together."_

He made that goal sound like it was so easy. Like he was absolutely sure he was going to do it. Shadow supposed that those who have nothing else to lose would be engrossed in that kind of ideal. After all, if they were willing to stoop that low, then life dealt them a terrible hand and had to survive by performing the ugly work. When Shadow looked at it that way, he supposed he should feel some sympathy for the poor humans that work under him.

…..right. As if he would feel sorry for humans.

But Shadow could at least recognize that they have some use. After all, for minor things that would be troublesome for him to do, the regular human would have no trouble doing. So he made a personal goal to establish a contact to keep an eye on Bronkoff. That sort of person would make anyone wary. The proverb 'baby on a roof' would work in this case so to say.

Speaking of contacts, he still didn't get into touch with his first one. With missions and other things on his mind, it nearly slipped him. Tomorrow would be Saturday, wouldn't it? Guess he had a plan for tomorrow. That was if he was able to get outside without getting noticed by cops. It wasn't the sheer fact that he would get caught by cops, he'd shoot himself before that happened. It was actually the third reason of what he was doing.

For that reason, Shadow stared at the heirloom sitting on a crate in the corner of his abode. He'd been contemplating on what to do with the thing. He wouldn't sell it because it turned out to be not just some pretty glass structure. Besides, Shadow had too much money as it was (which he wasstill thinking on what to do with it!).

There was the option of destroying it….yeah, let's throw that out. This dilemma actually let him with two options. He had to both keep this thing in his hideout and protect like his late client wanted him to. Or he would return it to the family that properly cherished it in the first place.

Shadow stared into the constructed gold eyes of the dragon. For a fleeting moment, he wished that the dragon would actually give him a sign as to what it wanted. To remain as some kind of display to brighten up his dreary hideout a bit or go to back to the Yi-ang family. Then it disappeared and Shadow decided to let someone else to make the decision for him.

So he rose from his meditative position and took the briefcase in hand. He decided to go back to the restaurant and find someone from that family. Either a relative of the former mob boss or the next person in charge of the family. If he didn't find either well…he stared at the heirloom one more time before leaving with a single thought in his mind.

'The builders will never understand how their creations truly feel'.

XXXXX

Shadow looked at the remains of what used to be the restaurant owned by the Yi-ang family. He was on top of an apartment building across from it because aside from the usual cop, the place didn't get fully rebuilt yet. This meant that the family either relocated or never got around to find people to rebuild the place. Or maybe they'd lay low like he did.

Either way, he was out of luck over here. Those damn cops just _had_ to get in the way.

Looks like he would be conducting his own mini search. Shouldn't be too hard. He knew Westopolis like the back of his head…or spine or whatever. And he was a streak of crimson when he whizzed pass people.

XXXX

For nearly 3 hours, Shadow skated through Westopolis as he searched for a member of the Yi-ang family. True to his moniker, he made sure that he traveled at speeds that leaved a streak of crimson in the streets he burned pavement on.

And not once did he find anyone related to his search. It didn't help that he vaguely remembered other people that were actually there at the meeting. He figured the task was going to be hard but this just upped the difficulty. So he stopped at an intersection to gather his thoughts for a moment.

Maybe he could go into random bars and get some sort of lead on where the family was hiding. He doubted he would get any info from his bar. For one, it was on the other side of Westopolis so the patrons probably wouldn't know. The bartender _might _know but he didn't get his hopes up. One random day, he asked the guy if he knew any free spaces to set his business in. Without a word, he led him to that basement and did nothing more. From there, Shadow just assumed he wordlessly acquiesced his demands because he no other use for the space.

Then Shadow learned later on that the bartender was mute. At first, he gave it a moment of thought then just carried on as usual. Now it just made him plain curious now. How was that man able to keep his business going by not talking at all? Sometimes, if he concentrated enough, he would hear some of the noisier patrons complain about the service or whatever. Hell, a couple of times he had to go up there just to _silence _them because he couldn't meditate.

No, he didn't kill anyone because of this reason…but he was oh so _tempted _to do it. But it was unnecessary. His sheer presence made people seal their lips. Guess for that reason, he felt as if he repaid his debt to him. He kept his location a secret and he kept the noisy crowds away.

So lost in his thoughts that Shadow almost got touched by a random thing. As soon as his arm was touched, he threw the heirloom in the air, twisted the man's arm and kicked him in the face. Due to the force of said kick, the man heard a nasty sound from his back as he slumped on the ground. He almost welcomed darkness when the collar of his shirt was pulled and in seconds, his face met blood red.

"Talk or die."

"I swear I wasn't trying to kill you! I was trying to get your attention because you didn't hear me yelling at you. I saw our family's heirloom and I wanted to know where you got it from!"

Oh. He simply had so much on his mind that he detached himself from reality. Just showed how much he meditated on a daily basis. But what a coincidence to find a family member here of all places. So much time wasted however….anyways.

"You will lead me to your current leader. Now."

The man could only nod before he got up and lead the hedgehog to his leader. All the while suppressing the urge to run for his life.

XXXXX

Shadow stared at the hideout…well, backroom casino he was led to. Humans really did have surprises now and then. He was very skeptical when he followed the guy into a supermarket. A _supermarket _of all places. The amount of stares he got really made him feel on edge. Then he was led to a back room hidden in the manager's office which leads him here.

Honestly, the word casino was over evaluating the place. It just looked that way because of the lights down here. A row of light bulbs assembled the ceilings along with the purple carpet with a strange pattern to it. In the center of the room was a pool table with all of the billiards in its holder along with a couch and wide screen TV. A retro game machine was placed in a corner down there but it didn't look like it was used in ages.

"This way. The boss is in that room."

Shadow followed the man pass the other two guards stationed by the door into a room that was more modest than the other. There were two bookshelves on either side standing in front of the standard white wall and random pictures of people in dress suits and cigars in their mouths. Probably family members.

In front of him was a wooden table in some papers on it. But the main attraction was the person sitting on a leather chair. Surprisingly, it was a woman who looked like she was in her early to mid-thirties. Her face composed of dark brown eyes, ivory skin, pouty lips painted with red lipstick and a pointy chin. Her hair was a coffee brown wrapped into a tight bun that matched her eyes. With a floral kimono and a brown choker, the woman looked pleasing to any man's eye. But that wasn't why Shadow was here.

"Boss, this is Crimson. Your father hired him before…"

"I understand." Her voice was soft but had a firm undertone. "So you are Crimson Streak. My father used to speak about you when our family would have their meetings." She stared at Shadow again for a few moments before her soft voice filled the room again. "Please leave us for a few moments. There are private matters that I must discuss with Crimson now." Acquiescing to her boss, the man left the room to give them their privacy. Once he had, the atmosphere in the office became somewhat tense. This was because one party was wary of the other. Shadow more so than the other.

"You know, I honestly thought you were some human who liked the color red mixed with black." Damn it, every single time. "But when I look into your eyes, the doubt dissipates. I see…destruction…dominance…darkness…and a hidden emotion."

"What?"

"There is something deep within you. I cannot read it exactly, but it is there. Regardless, the external qualities define you right now. Before I move forward, allow me to introduce myself. I am Lianxi Yi-ang, second heir to the Yi-ang dynasty. Normally, my older brother would be the one you would be conversing with. But when I was speaking to him…" Her expression turned into a sad one. "He no longer cared for this family. He only cares about ending Bronkoff's life. When I stared in his eyes, he was resolute in doing it. And no matter how much I tried to talk him out of it…" She composed herself before talking again. "Anyways, you are not here to be a victim to my venting. You're here because you hold our family's heirloom."

Her pointed stare silently asked him to put it on the table. So he did and she stared at it with an almost faraway look. The dragon, while unmoving, continued to look as graceful as ever.

'_When I look at you, your mother and this heirloom, I feel blessed to be surrounded by such beautiful treasures.'_

Her father told her over and over how beautiful she looked when she was younger. She just took it at face value because it wasn't hard to see that she was in fact beautiful. But maturing over the years led her to see the true meanings of her father's sayings. After all, if you are beautiful, people wanted to capture said beauty for themselves. That could be said for men that wanted to court her, oppurtunists that wanted to take over her family and other such things.

But she owed it to her beloved father to make sure this beauty stays eternal in her family. That was her goal along with making her family prominent again.

"I thank you for taking care of the heirloom for us. It will be in our safe hands for as long as possible."

"Then my business is done." Shadow turned to leave but a sharp "Wait!" made him stop and bare one crimson eye to the current leader.

"There is one other thing I wanted to discuss. You and I both know how dangerous Bronkoff can be. In the state our family is in, we can't afford to compete without losing our members swiftly. Therefore, I ask for your assistance in this matter."

Shadow stared at her a while contemplating the question for what is worth. Then we walked to the door again and opened it halfway. "I'm only a mercenary. My loyalty isn't tied to one sole thing. But I will agree with you. Bronkoff needs to be watched. At _all _times." Having said his piece, Shadow left.

Lianxi stared at him as he left. That hidden emotion…was it something that he suppressed? Was it something he tried not to show to the world? It would be understandable if you look at the dark reality of how this world functions. But it did make her curious. And the next time they meet, she decided, her eyes will report to her everything that is Crimson Streak.

Because from his own eyes, the future looked so bleak.

XXXX

Elizabeth looked into her own reflection in the pond of Station Square Park. It looked…happy. A bit stressed from her profession, but happy nonetheless.

Her move to Station Square turned out to be the right decision. She only wished that she convinced Eliza to move here as well but her baby sister liked danger a bit too well. From scraping her knee as a child to almost winding up in the hospital from school fights, Eliza was truly her polar opposite.

Yet, secretly, both of them liked dominate personalities. Mother used to say that it ran in the family but Liz didn't believe that one bit. She had thoughts, but she truly believed that she didn't want that in her soul mate. She looked for a caring man, had proper morals, and a wish to raise a healthy family.

Then that went tumbling down when she met Crimson.

She almost got excited when he entered her thoughts. No matter how much she tried to deny it, every time she saw those piercing, blood red eyes in her dreams, she couldn't help but…_settle _the feeling.

"You actually come here." She gasped loudly when she heard that smooth voice. "Glad this wasn't a waste of time."

Liz looked into those eyes…and regretted it. 'I'm going to the laundry later.' There before her, Crimson stood with his firm expression and arms crossed.

"Y-yes. I come here every Saturday to relax for a bit. And of course, hold up my end of the deal."

"What info do you have for me?"

Liz cleared her throat before answering. "There's not much to tell about the events in this city. Compared to Westopolis, the crime rate is small. And that is because of Sonic the Hedgehog."

"Who is that?"

She widened her eyes for a moment. He didn't know about Sonic? Everyone knew about the blue bomber. "Sonic is revered here for the heroic deeds performed. Sonic is the only one who stops from taking over the world. By the way, Sonic stopped one of his plots just last week. The people around here are used to this so they take proper action when needed."

Shadow absorbed this piece of info for a moment before he spoke again. "Anything else?"

"Afraid not. I could continue to keep an eye out-"

"I want you to find out everything you can about a man named Adrian Bronkoff. Have it for me by next month."

Before Liz responded, Crimson was gone. She sighed at the feeling he left her with. Liz never slept well that night.

XXXX

"Was that?"

A random, rust colored robot stared at the spot Shadow just stood. He looked familiar at first. Then when he left the scene, the speed that it exhibited….

"I must report this to Lord Eggman."


	9. Plans in motion

Shadow made himself a blur as his made his made way through Station Square. Yet, he couldn't help himself from checking out the scenery. There was one thing made clear from looking at this city compared to Westopolis.

The people here were much more…happier.

In Westopolis, everything was fast paced. Not as fast as him, but along the lines of people getting things done as quickly as possible. The citizens were always in a rush so to say. Here, people didn't have frowns, guarded or depressed looks on their faces.

People…smiled more. And when the sun shined on their faces and reflected the scenery around him, it highlighted the peaceful aura that Shadow got swallowed in. It didn't freak him out per say, but somehow it…

'_I want to live in a world where people have nothing but smiles on their faces. Where everyone is happy. Would you help me in protecting this world, Shadow?'_

Shadow stopped dead in his tracks. That voice…he didn't hear it in a while but it was familiar. It still had the tone of a young person…more specifically a female. So Shadow counted the females that he knew in his head.

….aside from clients, that number was dreadfully low. The ones he did know didn't have voices that sounded so…melodic.

Wait. Did he just describe 'that' voice as melodic? He, the famed Crimson Streak, mercenary that was responsible for the deaths of many, described a voice as melodic? This was getting annoying. If this voice was going to mess with his thoughts, the best solution was to forget about it completely and deal with more important things.

Like dodge the incoming laser shot that was aimed for his skull.

After landing from a backflip, Shadow stared at the sky which was filled with random robots all sporting guns and laser beams that was aimed at him.

Great. Just what he wanted to deal with today.

* * *

The G.U.N commander bore his double colored eyes at the manila folder in front of him. It was basically a file of reports that recorded the activity of a certain hedgehog. Before he decided to go through them, he reflected on the meeting he had with this agent beforehand...

_Flashback_

'_Enter.'_

_The G.U.N commander watched passively as Rouge sauntered up to his desk with a folder in her gloved hands and a smirk on her face. He would admit to himself that the bat in front of him didn't look capable of performing black ops level assignments. Even if the President did recommend her, she looked too shifty for his being. And when an enemy was shifty, they were dangerous._

_But to his quiet surprise, she actually got the job done. Quite nicely in her own…unique ways. His field agents told him that she handled the target in a way that didn't compromise their identity and effectively drew out his hidden strength using their own resources and set up the situation perfectly._

_Somehow, it made him upset but nonetheless, the mission was accomplished._

'_All the files you need. I figured I did pretty well on this one.'_

'_Good work, Special Agent. With this information in our disposal, when the time comes, G.U.N will make proper judgment when needed.'_

_Rouge's smirk widened a bit. 'I bet you boys will. Now about the payment…'_

_The G.U.N commander frowned but called his secretary and in a short time, two soldiers brought two jewels forward to her._

_Rouge took them in a well-controlled manner and marveled at the sight. Just like her, jewels always had an ever-lasting beauty that you can just stare at forever. They were definitely going into her collection._

'_Oh yes, this mission was worth it. If you have more beauties like this, then call me anytime._ '

That bat. She may seem like trouble, but if she got the job done then everything else didn't matter.

So with that, he opened the manila folder, ignored Rouge's card, and absorbed every single word his bi-colored eyes bore witness to.

* * *

Shadow moved left andright as he skated through the desert. No, he didn't dance so get that out of your minds. No, he moved because he tried to avoid these _damn robots!_

It was fun the first couple of times but then it just became annoying. Who had the time to build these many robots anyway? Ignoring that thought, Shadow threw a Chaos Spear at the nearest robot and destroyed it. But from that one, 5 more came forward and tried to fry him with lasers. Deciding that enough was enough, Shadow jumped in the air and attacked each one with a Homing Attack.

When he landed again, he stared back into the direction of Station Square and saw no other robots. Conforming back, Shadow kicked up…well skated up dust as he traveled back to Station Square.

* * *

"Curse that hedgehog! Why does that pest always get in my way!"

An outsider would have thought this man was insane at the emotion he was displaying. But if you were a resident of Dr. Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik's lair, then this would be a regular occurrence. And if you guessed that his plans for taking over the world was _once _again foiled by a certain blue hedgehog, then gold points to you.

But anyways, Eggman was livid. He had a well-constructed plan this time, honest! He was simply going to take over a town on the other side of the planet, simple. The police force there was a joke so his army could handle them. Then, he could subtly make everyone bend to his will because they would have no choice! After that, it would be child's play to start from there and take over the world.

But of all the places for that pest to take a chili dog break, it had to be there! And if that wasn't the kicker, he lost his Chaos Emerald! His!

'_I wouldn't put it past you to stalk me on my downtime, Eggface!'_

Oh that hedgehog will be vanquished, he'd be sure of it! His god gifted genius assured him of it. But right now, he was too livid to think.

"Lord Eggman, our scouts in Station Square have something to report."

Eggman swerved around to meet his metallic servant. "It better be good because I am in no mood right now."

"I believe this footage will ease your stress levels."

When Eggman took a look at his monitor, his eyes bore witness to his creations getting destroyed…by Sonic again!

"Why are you showing me this? If I wanted to watch Sonic destroy my robots, I would get a front row seat when I give the order personally."

"Look closely, my lord."

And Eggman did as he zoomed in on the picture. Then he saw it. The creature did look like Sonic if you didn't pay close attention. A black and red hedgehog with abilities similar to Sonic yet…different.

"Who is this?"

"I've overheard a conversation concerning him in the park. I believe the name 'Crimson Streak' was mentioned."

Eggman gasped as he heard the name. The name Crimson Streak did reach his ears before but he was too busy with his master plans to care. Now that he got footage of his work…

A dark grin formed on Eggman's face as his brain hatched a new plan. No scratch that, a master plan.

* * *

Crimson Streak Random Moments

Shadow vs. Keypad 1

Shadow stared in the sky as he waited for his client to finish unlocking the safe that held cash. He was quickly hired to steal a safe from one of Westopolis's wealthy citizens. It was easy enough. When he infiltrated the home, the man was asleep and snoring loudly. Once again, he pegged it to his meditation that allowed him to focus instead of snapping the man's neck.

Then when he brought the safe to his client, he waited for him open it so he would get his cut from this. It has been an hour already and he starting to get irritated. When a client asks for a safe, they should have the skills necessary to open when delivered…right?

"Crimson, I can't get this open."

Shadow turned his head and saw the client and the safe in front of him. "Maybe you would have better luck?"

Crimson eyes looked at the safe and saw why the man had trouble…a keypad. Hate it he might, Shadow walked forward and tried his hand at it.

2756…..access denied.

3081…..access denied.

2190…..access denied.

5632…..access denied.

Shadow felt the rage building in him.

4078…..access denied.

"Um, I think I can…"

"Shut up and let me do this!" As he yelled that out, he unconsciously typed 1234 and opened the safe.

Two sets of disbelieving eyes stared at the now opened safe as the hidden rewards were in plain sight.

"…."

"…."

"….well, thank you…um Crimson…"

Shadow didn't even bother taking any money. He immediately went to his hideout and meditated lest blood got on his gloves tonight.

Shadow: 0 Keypad: 1

XXXX


End file.
